Gordon: Lack of energy in Game 3 easy fix for Aces in Game 4

The Connecticut Sun shot 55.8 percent from the field Thursday during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals and 53.3 percent from 3-point range. They grabbed 14 more rebounds than the Aces and also forced 14 turnovers.

But the stat Aces coach Becky Hammon seemed most disgusted by is one that doesn’t even exist.

“They just kicked our ass in every way possible. There’s no two ways about it,” Hammon said after an uninspired 105-76 loss at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena. “If there was a stat on mental toughness and physicality, they would have kicked us there, too.”

Connecticut was indeed mentally tougher, more physical and more desperate than the Aces, who had secured a 2-0 advantage after a decisive Game 2 victory in Las Vegas.

They won the first two games because they defended with effort and urgency. They lost the third one Thursday because they elected not to do either.

“We were a step slow on the defensive end and that fuels our offense,” Aces forward A’ja Wilson said after scoring 19 on 8-of-14 shooting. “It’s just energy … we lacked that. I’m going to take full accountability for that. We lacked energy at the end of the day and you need that coming into a road game like this. … They just had more energy than us.”

‘Can’t be like that’

Heading into the weekend, the Aces can take some solace knowing that effort and urgency are things they can control. Expect them to play Sunday with the same sense of desperation with which the Sun played Thursday.

Plus, they don’t want to play Game 5 in Las Vegas, where they, the world’s greatest women’s basketball players, would be displaced from Michelob Ultra Arena and relegated to MGM Grand Garden because of a scheduling conflict.

An issue unto itself and all the more reason to seal the deal Sunday.

They were so dominant in the second half Tuesday and quick to build a 9-2 edge Thursday that it almost seemed they thought the Sun would succumb to their almighty offense — even if they knew better.

A key timeout by Sun coach Curt Miller ignited a 21-4 run, fueled by a series of stops and expertly timed ball and player movement against the Aces’ pick-and-roll coverages. Other schematic adjustments — like assigning 6-foot-4-inch wing DeWanna Bonner to defend Aces point guard Chelsea Gray — fueled Connecticut’s victory.

But not more than the passion with which the Sun played.

The Aces pulled within eight at the end of the third quarter but would get no closer in the fourth, scoring seven points while the Sun scored 28.

“They looked new. They looked fresh,” Wilson said. “They came out and wanted it more. We can’t be like that. I don’t care what game it is.”

On to the next

The Aces actually won the second and third quarters by a 50-43 margin, that without playing a shred of defense and a reflection of their collective firepower. Wilson remains unstoppable when she attacks in space and Jackie Young found her rhythm, scoring 22 and making five triples.

But Gray was held to 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, the byproduct of an aggressive, trapping defense designed to rid her of the basketball.

Hammon and her assistants have successfully adjusted to opposing schemes throughout the course of the postseason and now have another opportunity to tinker before Game 4.

But there’s a fairly obvious adjustment that could yield the first WNBA championship in franchise history — and the first major-league championship for the city of Las Vegas.

Playing with more energy.

“At the end of the day, as great as they were, I think we were way below average in things that we needed to do and things that we can control,” Hammon said. “We can’t control what they do. Can’t control the adjustments or what they do. But in things that we can control, we can do much better.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.